Short Story Collection Discussion Questions

Select a story to view the corresponding discussion questions.

The 4D Doodler

Bread Overhead

Image of the Gods

Martian V.F.W.

One Shot

Out Around Rigel

Pygmalion's Spectacles

Toy Shop

Warning from the Stars

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The 4D Doodler

1. What are the three known dimensions?
2. Describe what the 4th dimension is like in the story?
3. Are you a doodler? Do you have any other nervous or subconscious habits?

Bread Overhead

1. Salvador Dali's surrealist paintings featured melting watches, animals with bizarrely long limbs, and other images that appear to come out of dreams. How might this story be considered surrealist?
2. Why did the author choose to feature bread rather than another type of food?
3. Do you think that a day will come when robots will be able to manipulate humans as they do in the story?

Image of the Gods

1. How do you think the Dusties came to have a statue of a man in the cave?
2. Would you be willing to take up arms to preserve your freedom? The colonists decided having someone dictate unrealistic crop production was the last straw. What circumstance would be your last straw?
3. Describe the conditions of Baron IV, where the colonists live.

Martian V.F.W.

1. Why did the author choose ants as the representation of the aliens?
2. How would the story be different if the author had chosen rats or butterflies to represent the aliens, for example?
3. The parade proved to be a perfect opportunity for an alien invasion. Can you think of any other situations that would provide such good cover for aliens to invade?

One Shot

1. How do you make decisions if you don't have all the information or data?
2. If you were in Braun's shoes in this high-stakes situation, would you be able to make a snap decision and take action or would you be paralyzed by fear?
3. Braun is portrayed as a man whose achievements are born out of a desire to appease his guilt. At the end of the story, he appears to be at peace. What brings about this inner peace that he'd been lacking?

Out Around Rigel

1. Between Garth and Dunal, which character was the most fortunate in how they died?
2. What do you think our planet will be like in 1,000 years?
3. Have you ever been interested in space exploration? Would you want to explore unknown places on earth, or are you more comfortable with the familiar?

Pygmalion's Spectacles

1. In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a man who sculpted his ideal woman and eventually fell in love with the sculpture. Venus, the goddess of love, turned the sculpture into a woman named Galatea. How is this story a retelling of the Greek myth?
2. Dan is poised to meet the real world Galatea, the niece of Professor Ludwig. Do you think he will be in love with her, or will he be disappointed in the reality of the woman?
3. This story seems to foretell the invention of virtual reality. Have you ever experienced virtual reality? Would you want to?

Toy Shop

1. This story is about con jobs. Can you explain the con the young man and old man at the end of the story are hoping to pull off? Who are the targets or "marks" of the con? Why did the con artists select the "marks" they did?
2. What are the ingredients for a successful con? Why do people fall for them?
3. The model appears to fly, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that it flies because a string lifts it. Magic works by this same sleight of hand. Do you enjoy watching magic tricks?

Warning from the Stars

1. The main character of the story, Forster, is teased and called Lilliput by his colleagues. Do you know what Lilliput references? Have you read Jonathan Swift's story Gulliver's Travels, in which there is an island called Lilliput that is inhabited by very tiny people?
2. The word lilliputian also means small or trivial. Was Forster a small or trivial man in the story, both literally and figuratively?
3. To make the East and the West come to a peaceful accord, the aliens removed top scientists from both regions. What would happen if aliens removed other groups of people from Earth, like celebrities, politicians, or professional athletes?